Colleen Carter
Head of life sciences
JPA Health
Over the course of her career, Colleen Carter has become one of the agency world’s foremost change agents, pioneering previously nonexistent roles at Juice Pharma Worldwide, Concentric Health Experience, Fingerpaint Group and now JPA Health. Along the way, she became the rare agency lifer who’s as well-respected as she is well-liked. Here, Carter talks parenting twins, taking back roads and her heretofore undisclosed degree from … Sears Beauty School? Sears Beauty School.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Jaime Sommers, the Bionic Woman. I wanted to take on secret missions for the government. So naturally I went into pharma (laughs).
When did you realize you wanted to work in health?
I started in nursing, because I loved science and the idea of helping people. Unfortunately, in my junior year, I realized the world would be a safer place if I wasn’t a nurse. I did what anyone would do at the age of 22, which was get a marketing degree.
My first job in health was scheduling grand rounds for BMS. My boss said something that stuck with me: “I can’t wait until you make your first mistake.” What she meant was that if you don’t make mistakes, you’re never going to learn. And if you don’t think you make mistakes, you’re not teachable. Ever since then, I’ve tried to step into every day with some humility.
How challenging was it to be a mother to twins?
It wasn’t challenging; it was awesome. When you don’t know the alternative, it doesn’t seem so bad. Somebody told me early on that my job as a parent was to get them not just ready to leave, but excited and capable to leave. It’s the worst joke ever on parents: If you do a good job, off they go.
How did you find your way to JPA Health?
When I left Fingerpaint, I wrote a purpose statement, which outlined what I wanted to do and who I wanted to do it with. I didn’t want to float through life. Then I identified eight companies that satisfied everything on the list — JPA was one of them — and just let it go while I did some consulting. That was in June 2023. In March, I got a call from a recruiter: “There’s an opportunity with this company called JPA Health.” I knew right away.
What made it a good fit?
If you look at the last two-thirds of my career, I’ve always been in positions that didn’t exist but needed to exist. That uncertainty excites me. At Juice, they moved me into an innovation role, which wasn’t really a thing at the time. Many agencies weren’t truly digital, so the Klicks of the world were taking everyone’s digital’s business. I was the person who had to put the systems and processes and training in place.
What was your favorite recent road trip?
Earlier this year my partner and I rented a house on the coast of Alabama for a month, with nobody around for miles. On the way there we passed through a town called Colleen, which felt like a sign. We have a rule: Whenever we’re traveling, we only take back roads and local roads — never the major highways. We’ve come across so many amazing things we never would have found.
What’s something about you your colleagues don’t know?
The first is that I took two years off from school to be a flight attendant for TWA. It opened my eyes to so many different locations and perspectives. The other is something many people can’t claim: I have a diploma from Sears Beauty School. I was a bit of an introvert growing up, so my mom thought it would be a great idea to send me there. Back then, at Sears you could go shopping for a tractor or you could learn how to brush your hair. The diploma now hangs in my house.
What do you enjoy doing outside the office?
I’m learning how to play the ukulele. I’m in a book club that I love. I’m a mentor in this amazing group SHE-CAN and we’re working with this incredible young woman from Cambodia who’s starting her second year at the University of Minnesota.
For me, it all goes back to the idea of purposeful living. The older you get, the more you realize that the most important thing is time. It’s the only thing we have. I feel better when I’m learning and growing and achieving.
From the August 01, 2024 Issue of MM+M - Medical Marketing and Media
